BLACK LIGHTNING Scores CW's Highest Debut In Two Years

By Chris Arrant, Editor January 17, 2018 09:02am ET

Credit: Warner Bros.

Credit: The CW

The CW's Black Lightning premiered on Tuesday with an estimated 2.31 million viewers, according to TVByTheNumbers. That's 90% of the audience of the Flash episode that immediately preceeded it, but for the coveted adults 18-49 demographic it held out with a 0.8.

At the Tuesday 9 p.m. EST slot, Black Lightning competed against NBC's This Is Us (9.77m), CBS's NCIS: New Orleans (8.68m), ABC's Black-Ish (3.76), and Fox's LA to Vegas (2.77)

Black Lightning's 2.3m viewership makes it the highest-viewed debut since 2016's DC's Legends of Tomorrow (3.2m). The Flash and Arrow earned 4.8m and 4.14m respectively in their debuts.